Former Ludlow man convicted of identity theft

SPRINGFIELD - A counterfeiter was convicted of identity theft charges Tuesday, after prosecutors convinced a jury the defendant used his counterfeiting materials to create fake birth certificates.

Aldo Persichilli, 38, formerly of Ludlow, stood trial for aggravated identity theft and a related charge in U.S. District Court.

Testimony during the weeklong trial revealed federal investigators found a mobile counterfeiting lab when Persichilli was arrested Feb. 2, 2007, at the Wilbraham Inn on Boston Road in Wilbraham.

Persichilli, who had already served a prison sentence after a 2003 conviction for counterfeiting, was captured after he was arrested in New York for passing phony bills in 2006 and became a fugitive.

Elizabeth Botelho, 25, of Ludlow, told jurors Persichilli married her, then recruited her to take him and another man around several southern states where they passed fake $100 bills at dozens of department stores each day.

U.S. Secret Service agents testified they found a stash of counterfeiting tools, including bleached $1 bills, ink, computers and a printer in the hotel room where he was caught. They also found several copies of his own birth certificate - one bleached until it was in shreds - and identification documents that were not his.

The jury returned its verdict after less than three hours of deliberations.

During their closing arguments on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven H. Breslow and Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett said Persichilli was going to use the same tools he used to doctor the money to create a new social security card and birth certificate.

Dineen Jerrett said that Persichilli was prevented from doing the most basic things as a fugitive, and needed new identifiers as a gateway to mainstream society.

"A clean, new social security card plus a new driver's license (was) a magical combination that could open many doors," Dineen Jerrett told the jury, noting that Persichilli could not drive, or rent cars or motel rooms in his own name during the 2006 counterfeiting spree.

Defense lawyer John S. Ferrara argued that although Persichilli had the identification materials, he had no serious plans to alter them for his own use.

He also attacked the Botelho's credibility, arguing she told "half-truths" to curry favor with the government. She also was charged in the case and testified under a plea agreement.

Botelho is awaiting sentencing.

Before his trial on the identity theft charges, Persichilli pleaded guilty to counterfeiting. He will be sentenced on all the charges April 30, and could face more than 10 years in prison.